Most helpful positive review

Michael Morpugo is a fabulous author and 'Born to Run' is an excellent book. It all begins when Patrick is walking to school when he hears a squeaky noise coming from a bag floating in the canal. Patrick dived in and found 6 greyhound puppies. He kept one of the puppies and called it 'Best Mate'. Found out about Best Mate's exciting life with his 2 new owners. It's an interesting book because at the end you don't know if Best Mate, is going to get his first owner back. And so it is on my great books list. It's 5 stars from me!!

Most helpful critical review

This is a really good yarn and well written, but be careful: there are some seriously dark moments in the narrative and the ending left my young son in floods of tears. My fault. I should have read ahead and invented my own happy ending in advance. The style of the telling is simple and easy for a younger child to follow, but some of the subject matter really makes this more suitable for a child of at least 10+. It would have been helpful to have some intimation of the weight of the areas treated by MM on the back cover. But this takes nothing away from the book itself. It is a very good read and is recommended, with caveats for those easily given to tears. You will shed some if you read this.

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Michael Morpugo is a fabulous author and 'Born to Run' is an excellent book. It all begins when Patrick is walking to school when he hears a squeaky noise coming from a bag floating in the canal. Patrick dived in and found 6 greyhound puppies. He kept one of the puppies and called it 'Best Mate'. Found out about Best Mate's exciting life with his 2 new owners. It's an interesting book because at the end you don't know if Best Mate, is going to get his first owner back. And so it is on my great books list. It's 5 stars from me!!

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This is a really good yarn and well written, but be careful: there are some seriously dark moments in the narrative and the ending left my young son in floods of tears. My fault. I should have read ahead and invented my own happy ending in advance. The style of the telling is simple and easy for a younger child to follow, but some of the subject matter really makes this more suitable for a child of at least 10+. It would have been helpful to have some intimation of the weight of the areas treated by MM on the back cover. But this takes nothing away from the book itself. It is a very good read and is recommended, with caveats for those easily given to tears. You will shed some if you read this.

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I read this book with my nine-year-old son and we both absolutely loved it - it had us gripped from the first page to the end. A perfect read for dog lovers, yet it doesn't shy away from the realities of the way some people treat their animals. We now want to read all the Morpurgo books - what a fantastic writer he is.

A very well written older childrens book that goes all out to make sure kids understand the full ins and outs of dog ownership, dog rescue, opens their eyes to issues such as dog theft and tells of the horrors of "behind the scenes" in greyhound racing.

The funny, harrowing, sad, but ultimately heartwarming tale of Best Mate/BrightEyes/Paddywhack the Greyhound. HIGHLY recommended!

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A story about a boy who loses the love of his life-his dog, his companion, his only friend. This courageous, funny, friendly dog will take you on an adventure beyond any dog's imagination. He will show you the world through the eyes of a dog, still loved by his best friend but alone to face the world himself. He goes through many homes, has many names and many friends. And many of these friends he loses. But they are never gone. They are still there in this dogs mind. This is an emotional and moving book. I am a 10-year-old girl and I absolutely loved it! I have read many of Michael Morpurgo's books-long and short- and I think he writes absolutely brilliantly. His stories are all different, some about people, animals and wars. You can feel the effort he has put into this book. I disagree that this book has a bad ending. I was hooked all the way through. This book is completely unputdownable. The ending is greaaattt! In Michael Morpurgo's books you can see the reality that is in it and he fantasizes it well. I particularly enjoyed this book because I love all animals and especially dogs. It tells the story of the pain, anger, sadness and loss dogs go through. I have a dog and she is cross whippet and full of energy. She is a great dog, lively and full of fun. She calms down when she is told and loves to be petted. She is a great companion. That is why I love this book and many others that Michael Morpurgo has written. I highly recommend this for dog-lovers, and anyone who enjoys Michael Morpurgo or a good riveting read. If you decide to read this book, please get out the tissues because buckets of tears will be wept and smiles will be smiled as Michael Morpurgo once again takes you through emotion and happiness in a world of reality mixed with fantasy. By: Lauren B Age: 10

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Wow! What a riveting read, this was unputdownable. The emotions that you go through as you go on the journey together with this champion greyhound dog. The parts where 'Best mate' tells the story from his point of view were fantastic! I would highly reccomend this book for any dog lovers out there!

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`Born to Run' is written by my all time favourite author, Michael Morpurgo. Michael Morpurgo has written over a hundred books, short stories and musicals which are well loved by children and adults alike. My favourite book by him is `Little Foxes' but `Born to Run' is close behind. This book starts with Patrick who has to walk past a brown sauce factory and one day on his way he hears a sound from within a plastic bin bag floating gently on top of the dirty stream... It finishes with Best Mate meeting Patrick again after a long time but he has been replaced with another greyhound. This story is brilliant! Michael Morpurgo has got a talent of writing stories that really touch hearts and this is one of them. Rating and recommendation: 10000000000000/ 10 and recommended for all!

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my 2 grandaughters and I went on holiday, ages 11 and 13, I took them this book and 1 called War Horse, they couldn't put these books down, they already had other books by this auther, and I am now ordering them some more for Christmas. Excellent stories for this age group. They were recommended to me by Amazan.

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Michael Morpurgo is a fantastic writer, and when I was given this book as a gift I was extremely eager to read it despite being almost 17 years of age! As other reviewers have mentioned, the book does handle some touchy subjects which may result in your child (and yourself) getting teary eyed. By the end of the book you'll want to run down to the local RSPCA to bring home your own Best Mate/Bright Eyes/Paddywhack.

Michael Murpurgo has you hooked from the opening sentence, and you will literally have to force yourself to put it down. After reading Born to Run and Twist of Gold I'm on the search for more books by Michael Murpurgo!

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My 11 year old son was given this book as a Christmas presant and he devoured it in less than a day. He was so emotionally moved by the story (and because the book was about a dog - my weakness) I just had to read it.

I also read the book in less than a day and although the ending was a happy one, it was bitter sweet!

The book reminds me of a modern day "Black Beauty" although about a dog rather than a horse. The same sad principals remain though... animals used for money, abducted for money, abused and unhappy endings. On a personal note, I think it is incredibly sad that over a hundred years after Black Beauty was written, the same sort of animal abuse and misuse goes on.

It was a lovely story, beautifully written and had some good illustrations. I would recommend this book very highly.